~The Magic of Christmas~

I am so glad that you have taken time to stop and read my post this Christmas Eve day.  I've been busy, like the rest of you, but I wanted to share with you some more of the Christmas decorations around the house....

Years ago, my children and I tried our hand at making gingerbread houses; even a log home made out of large pretzel sticks..  But no one, including myself, cared for gingerbread so we stopped making them.  Several years ago, I decided to started collecting gingerbread items.  They are so cute and I use them to decorate my kitchen.

This year, I started a new collection of red, white and silver ornaments.  Here is my beautiful tree in all its glory minus the top section...the lights keep going out and I have to have it replaced.

 Two-year-old Bubba is still learning about the magic of Christmas.  Not really sure if he has met Santa this year.

Three-year-old Tater Tot is all about Santa and she is learning about the birth of Jesus as well.  In fact, she's been singing Happy Birthday to Jesus and wants to know if Santa is going to bring Him presents, too.  The innocence of children and how they believe.  I love it!!

 The elf on the shelf, better known as Senior McGomez (family joke), started showing up at five-year-old Monkey's house last year.  She swears that his eyes move and follow her around the house!  He even followed her to my house this year at Thanksgiving further cementing the belief in Santa.

Eight-year-old Rascal has classmates who don't believe any longer but he's still holding on.  He asks them who eats the cookies on Christmas Eve?  Santa, of course!!  I pray that he believes for a couple of more years.

 Thirteen-year-old J.W. is, of course, very wise and no longer believes.  He has been threatened within an inch of his life if he spills the beans!  So far...so good.  I keep telling him that, at my house, he has to believe in order to receive. ;)

I got my little Christmas trees either at Michael's or Hobby Lobby; I can't remember.  Santa came from a craft mall, probably about 10 years ago, as well as the little pull horse and teddy bear.  I don't remember where I found the little ornaments that are now part of this vignette.

I love this Christmas arrangement with the grapevine star.  It all sits inside a suitcase.  I got it on sale at Michael's a few years ago.

I started collecting a variety of angels to create a vignette on my fireplace mantel.

"And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God..." 

  I loved my angels but it needed something else.  And then I found this....

 All the lights, decorations, collections, vignettes, goodies and gifts are delightful things through the eyes of children and those who are children at heart.  It all makes Christmas magical, doesn't it?

But I pray that we also center our focus on the true meaning of what Christmas is all about.  Like my three-year-old granddaughter who sings Happy Birthday to the baby who becomes our Savior.  My greatest prayer is that you know the Savior like I know the Savior; the One who died for our sins.

From my family to yours, we wish you a very blessed, joyous and 

Merry Christmas

"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. ~

 Luke 2:14"

~Cranberry Supreme Salad~

I love cranberries!  Especially during the holiday season.  For years, I would try different cranberry salads, relishes and even just straight out of the can cranberry sauce for our Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners, but my family didn't care for any of them.  Well, this last Thanksgiving, I decided to try a new recipe; one that has been in my collection for years.  And wouldn't you know it?  My family loved it and claimed that it was a keeper and, in fact, wanted it again for our family Christmas dinner!!  In the past, I always passed it by because I didn't think they would like some of the ingredients in it.  Go figure. :/

Since it was such a big hit with the family, I thought maybe you and your family would like it as well.  At the end of the recipe, there is a printable version so that you may add it to your own collection of recipes.

This beautiful salad photo came with the recipe.  Mine never looks this good!

Cranberry Supreme Salad

1 pkg. (3 oz) raspberry gelatin

2 cups boiling water, divided

1 can (16 oz) whole-berry cranberry sauce

1 pkg (3 oz) lemon gelatin

1 pkg (3 oz) cream cheese, softened

1/3 cup mayonnaise

1 can (8-1/2 oz) crushed pineapple, undrained

1 cup whipping cream

1 cup miniature marshmallows

Dissolve the raspberry gelatin in one cup of boiling water; stir in the cranberry sauce.  Pour into an oiled 1-1/2  quart round mold.  Chill until partially set.  Dissolve the lemon gelatin in the remaining boiling water; set aside.  Mix the cream cheese and mayonnaise together blending well; gradually add the lemon gelatin.  Stir in the undrained pineapple.  Chill until partially set.  Whip the cream until thickened; fold into the lemon mixture.  Stir in the marshmallows.  Spread this on top of the cranberry layer.  Chill until set.

When ready to serve, carefully work a knife around the edge of the mold to loosen the gelatin mixture.  Place your serving platter on top.  Holding the platter and mold securely, flip the whole thing over.
Yield:  12 servings
** If the gelatin does not drop from the mold completely, place a hot, damp towel on top for 15 to 30 seconds to soften it enough to loosen it from your mold.

Click the phrase, Cranberry Supreme Salad, to obtain the printable version of this recipe.  Enjoy!!

It's beginning to look alot like Christmas ~

~A Tiny Christmas Village~

This little elf has been chin deep in fabric, patterns and projects for the last week or so trying to get everything made for her little grandbabies!!  I feel like I've been glued to my chair as I cut fabric and sew away, but the things I've been making are so doggone cute so it's worth it in the long run.  Later on, I'll show you what I've made. I am taking a breather here as I wanted to share with you some of the Christmas decorating that takes place in my house.  Besides, I haven't posted in a while and I didn't want you to think I had dropped off the end of the earth!

Years ago, I wanted a little Christmas village to display and started buying the little buildings one by one.  All but one comes from Wal-Mart.  I use a card table for my display and I so enjoy setting it up.  It resides in a corner of my living room and, so far, no one has caused any kind of mishap until recently.

Join me as we go on a tour of the Christmas village.  This is the school house.  The bell steeple got knocked off in a bad storm during the summer.  The plan is to replace it come summer.  (If you look real close in the first picture, you can see that it is missing. I accidentally clipped the bell steeple and knocked that baby right off!!  I think I can glue it back on...at least I hope I can. :/ )   )

 You can see that the school is also a boarding school.  Years ago, two children died in a snowstorm on their way home from school.  So when the new school was built, a second story was added to house children who live far out of town.  They are allowed to board in the school during the winter months.

A tire swing hangs from one of the trees that shades the side of the school building.  There's also a stone walkway.  This is a fun place for the children to play.  Around the side of the building, you can see a bicycle leaning against the building.  It belongs to the school teacher.

Next door to the school is this house.  Mrs. Kellison lives here.  She has the steps and one corner of the porch decorated with poinsettias.  Oops, she left her watering can on the porch!  Look in the bottom corner of the house and you can see that the basement lights were left on.  She's awfully forgetful.  She must be busy with all her Christmas projects, too.

The children so enjoy decorating for Christmas that they have decided to start decorating the tree out in front of this house.  Junior is busy bringing in some more firewood before it gets too dark.

 Look inside and you can see the lady of house talking to her husband who is getting a hug from their daughter.  Looks like he just got home from work as he still has his winter coat on.  It may be hard to see in the window, but it looks toasty and warm with the fire blazing in the fireplace.  Look closer and you might be able to see the candelabra and clock on the mantel.  There's also a teddy bear on the far end.

The bed and breakfast sits on a hill just on the edge of town.  (Our home was a bed and breakfast for several years and I just had to add this to my collection.  It came from Bell''s).  Don't you think it looks quite festive with all the garland and red bows?

We got here in time to see the Christmas carolers.  I think these are people from church.  In case you were wondering, there is no church building in town yet so services are held in the school.  Town members are hoping to have enough money to start building next spring.

Some of the carolers have been invited inside for hot chocolate and cookies.  They take turns so that the singing continues.  They do this so that they don't linger too long at any one house and get through town before it get's too late.

Farther out of town is Layne's Farm, which is the largest farm in the district. Mr. Layne loves the beautiful barn that houses his beloved horses and even has it decorated for the holidays.

He had errands to run in town today and chose to ride one of his prize horses.  He is currying him down before putting him in the barn for the night.  Isn't that one horse, looking out the window, a beauty?  Take a deep breath...can you smell the hay?  I love the smell of hay.  It reminds me of the days we used to romp in my grandmother's hay barn.

On the far side of town is the gristmill.  It sits near the creek where water is needed to power the water wheel.  The owner was so glad to have his mill close to town.  If you look in the far corner of the picture, you can see the covered bridge that takes you on the main road leading out of town.

You can see the mill owner carrying in some wheat stalks that got spilled on the ground.  The children have been out sledding on the big hill behind the dairy barn.  They leave their sleds alongside the fence so they don't have to haul them back and forth from home.

This is the Cross Creek Farm.  Mr. Cross was one of the first to settle in this area.  The creek was first named as Cross Creek and then when the town began to grow, it was also named Cross Creek.  Mr. Cross is now gone but his sons still run the large dairy.

They are working late this evening as the lights are still on in the barn.  One of the calves must have gotten loose from his pen.  He seems to be awfully curious of the strange looking contraption coming by.

Far behind the school is Een's Farm.  Mr. Een is quite proud of his farm where he grows wheat and corn.  In fact, he is so proud that he built a very fancy barn to show off his wealth.  (I forgot to take pictures around the sides of the barn with the fancy entryways.)  Mr. Een spends alot of time in his barn, so he put in a wood burning stove and has a stone chimney!  The townfolk are praying that he doesn't burn the town down.

I hope you have enjoyed the tour of the little village of Cross Creek.  It's such a quaint little place.  The folks are quite friendly here.

Every year I put up my Christmas village and I never tire of watching the grandchildren as they get up close to look at all the details.  They are in such awe, I wonder what goes through their minds.  They know the strict rules of "look but don't touch", which they abide by very well.  I don't know who gets more joy out of the Christmas village...me or them!

I hope your day is full of Christmas joy ~

~Asking for Your Prayers~

Mr. Bill and I are in Branson, Missouri, for a long weekend.  I got a phone call from my younger brother this evening telling me that a dear cousin of ours passed away this morning.  Our families are very close as we are double cousins.  We not only grew up together but still remain close all these years.  He was recuperating from abdominal surgery and was doing well when he suddenly went into respiratory distress and could not be saved from the large blood clot that went into his lungs.  He was only 55 years old.

What makes this even more heartbreaking is that his father, my uncle, has Alzheimer's and can't remember what happened to his son and asks each time what has happened to him.  The whole scenario has been repeated several times, which causes him to break down in tears each time.  I cannot imagine how hard it is for the family.

I tell you this because I covet your prayers for my family during this sad time.  We know that he is in heaven with our Lord and Savior.  For that, we rejoice.  But our hearts are broken.

Thank you ~

Velma

Update: My cousin's funeral was today (Tuesday).  It was a very emotional day to say the least but a beautiful service honoring our Lord and celebrating my cousin's life here on earth.  He will be sorely missed.  Thank you for your prayers.  They mean so much.

~A New Christmas Tradition~

Reader beware!  This post is a bit long but I have a perfectly good reason for it, so get comfortable before starting, okay?

Have you ever had those days where you had plans to do back-to-back posts after Thanksgiving but couldn't find the photos you wanted to use and then realized that you were so pooped from all the family being here at your home for several days, which you so totally enjoyed, but what you had in  mind to do got put on the shelf so you could take a couple of days to recuperate and....(deep breath).....

then you planned to get back to the project at hand but your youngest daughter calls asking you to take care of her two children for the better part of a day while she and hubby go to a family relative's (his side) funeral and family dinner and so the post gets delayed some more and...(deep breath)...

then you decide you better start bringing down the Christmas decorations because you know it will take several days to get the house decorated and in-between times you keep looking for those darned pictures that seemed to have disappeared but then decide to just use what you've found already and...deep breath..

then you realize that you need to go to the big city to get some grocery and household shopping done as well as stopping by Hobby Lobby (always a must), which all takes a good part of a day, and then it's the weekend so you get to work tackling decorating some more as you know it will take at least two more days because your health doesn't allow you to work for long periods of time like you did in the past and then it's Monday and you decide you'd better sit down and get that post done??...deep breath...

Yeah, me too!

For all of our married life, we have always gotten a fresh cut tree for Christmas.  In the first few years, we couldn't afford to buy one so we would cut down a cedar tree from the farm's pasture (those were the pics that I couldn't find!).

We found that cutting one down was much more fun and would last longer.  So we chose to go to tree farms to find a fresh tree.  It has always been alot of fun going through the fields trying to find the "perfect" tree and there was usually a debate going on as to who found it.  Then, of course, it came down to the majority rules procedure.

When we lived in Kansas, we found a tree farm west of Wichita that was truly a Christmas tree farm.  It was absolutely charming and so much fun.  It became our favorite place to go for a good number of years, even after moving back to Oklahoma, which meant a three-hour drive!  But it became too much of an ordeal, so we stopped going there.  We chose to go to tree farms that were closer to home.  None of them came close to the Kansas tree farm, but it was a choice that had to be made.

Usually, it was me and the two girls who did the decorating but now it is down to just me.  It was becoming more and more difficult to find the right time to go tree hunting and my health wasn't allowing me the physical flexibility that I once had.  So, after almost 39 years, it was time to make a change.  We made the plunge and bought an artificial tree (at Hobby Lobby of course).  My youngest came up with the idea of starting a new tradition of allowing the grandchildren to decorate the tree during the Thanksgiving holiday.  I thought it was a wonderful idea!!

She took pictures while I handed out ornaments making sure that each child had the same number to put on the tree.  I love the intense look on the girls' faces as they find the right branch and making sure that the ornaments were secure.

Rascal also took his job seriously looking for the right branch.  Well, maybe not the right branch as he was always in a hurry to be first in line to get the next ornament but I would make him wait for the girls and then he was last in line since the girls took longer with their decisions.

I had to ask J.W. to help with putting ornaments on the upper branches since no one else could reach them.  Either he thought it wasn't cool or just wasn't interested (after all, he's 13 now!) so he didn't last very long.

This year, I also decided to buy new ornaments and garland...red, white and silver....to alternate with the many ornaments that I have collected over the years.  Lots of candy type ones are tucked in as well.  I got tickled watching my little helpers when they would stop by the tree to admire their handiwork.  We love traditions and I think we have a wonderful new one.

I did have to move around several of the ornaments as there were places where they were clustered together and some areas that were rather bare.  But don't tell my grandbabies!  Seems strange to have so many shiny, new ornaments as the other collection is made up of ones that are handmade or look to be handmade and a bit country in style.  They will go up next year.  I don't miss having to water the tree every day and cleaning up fallen needles, but I do miss the smell.  One of my daughters found some "pinecicles" at Michael's, which have a very strong pine smell and do smell somewhat real.  She says they are much better than the ones at Wally World.  So, what do you think of my new tree?

Now to finish putting out my Christmas decorations ~

Linking to Farm Chick's Farm Photo Friday